Combination coupling pin and lifting hook



Dec. 26, 1950 A. J. VON BANK 2,535,468

COMBINATION COUPLING PIN AND LIFTING HOOK Filed June 10, 1949 Inventor by 271.5! J Van 5am Atlorney Patented Dec. 26, 1950 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE COMBINATION. COUPLING. PIN AND LIFTING HOOK Albert J; Von Bank, Armstrong, Iowa ApplicationJunelO, 1949, Serial No..98,367

(Cl. 280--tl3.1)

V 3 Claims. This invention relates to" a novel combination coupling pin for coupling the tongue of a wagon or trailer to the drawbar of a tractor or draft vehicle and a lifting hook, forming apart of the unit, for cooperation with the pin to prevent accidental disengagement of the pin from thecoupled draft bar and tongue and for additionally functioning in cooperation with the couplingpin for engaging, lifting and properly positioning the tongue to be coupled with the. drawbar.

Still a further object of the invention is to provide a combination coupling pin. and lifting hook of extremely simple construction and which is capable of being utilized; by the operator of a draft vehicle or. tractor while seated, on the operator's seat thereof. for coupling the draft vehicle to a trailer vehicle and, without being required to dismount from the draft vehicle and assume a position between the vehicles where injury might result to the operator should either vehicle roll toward the other.

Various other objects and advantages of the invention will hereinafter become more fully apparent from the following description of. the drawing, illustrating a presently preferred embodiment of the invention, and wherein:

Figure 1 is a fragmentary perspective view showing portionsof' a draft. vehicle and a trailer vehicle and with the lnv'entionshown in aninitial position for use for coupling the tongue of the trailer vehicle to the drawbar of the draft vehicle;

Figure 21s a fragmentary side elevational view of a portion of the draft vehicle and tongue of the trailer vehicle and showing the coupling pin and lifting hook in an applied position. for coupling the vehicles together;

Figure 3 is a sectional view taken, substantially along a plane as indicated" by the line 3'3 of Figure 2 and showing the coupling pin and lifting hook in side elevation and at right angles to its position as seen in Figure 2, and on an enlarged' scale, and

Figure 4 is a perspective View showing the coupling pin and lifting hook detached. and with the lifting hook in its normal position.

For the purpose of illustrating one application and use of. the combination. coupling pin and lifting hook, designated generally 5, comprising the invention, the rear portion of a draft vehicle such as a tractor 6 and the forward portion of a trailer vehicle, such as a wagon I have been partially illustrated in Figures 1 and 2, the draft vehicle 6 being shown provided with a rearwardly extending drawbar 8 and the trailer vehicle or wagon 1 being shown provided with. a forwardly extending tongue 9.. The tongue 9 is shown, adjacent its, forward end provided with a series of longitudinally spaced coupling pin. receiving openings Hi adapted. to. be selectively aligned with a single coupling pin receiving opening [1' of the. drawbar 8 for connecting. the draft vehicle and. trailer vehicle by a. coupling pin. extending through the aligned openings. l0 and II.

The combination coupling pin. and lifting hook 5, constitutingv the invention, includes an elongated rod [2 having a tapered or pointed. lower end l3 and a laterally turned opposite upper end forming a handle M. A collar I5 is fixedly secured to the rod 12 near but spaced from. its pointed lower end l3 and the rod portion disposed between said collar 15 and end [3 con.- stitutes a. coupling pin H5.

A hook ll of arcuate shape throughout its length is pivotally connected near one end thereof to the rod I2, alcovev and adjacent the collar l5 by a pin l8 which. extends loosely therethrough and through. said rod l2 and which is provided with headed ends, as seen in Figure 2 to prevent disengagement of the pin from the rod I21 or hook IT. A lever 19 has a bifurcated angularly extending end 20 the free portions of the furcations of which straddle the rod 12 near the handle M. A pin 2! extends through said furcatiens and. loosely through the rod it for pivotally mounting the lever l9 thereon, said pin 2! likewise having headed ends to retain it in engagement with the bifurcated lever portion to and the rod [2, as seen in Figure 2.

A substantially rigid connecting rod or link 2;. is disposed substantially parallel to the rod l2 and has a hook shapedupper end 23 which pivotally engages in an opening 24. of the lever is and a hook shaped lower end. 25, which is disposed at a right angle to the hookv 23 and which loosely engages in an opening 26 of the hook H1.

Said opening 25 is disposed near the pivoted end of, the hook H, as clearly illustrated in Figures 3 and 4.

The lever I9 projects from the rod #2 in. the opposite direction to the handlev M. The weight of the hook ll normally causes said hook to assume an. operative position and with the bill thereof disposed beneath the point iii of the coupling pin l6 and with a portion of the hook resting on the collar l5 which thus functions as a stop for limiting the gravity movement of the hook I! toward an operative position. With the hook 11 thus disposed, as illustrated in Figures 3 and 4, the coupling pin [6 functions to close said hook and the lever I9 is held in its position of Figures 3 and 4 by the weight of the hook. To utilize the combination coupling pin and lifting hook, an operator of the draft vehicle 6 while seated on the operators seat thereof, as illustrated in Figure 1, may grasp the handle I4 with one hand and with the thumb of said hand engage and swing the lever I9 toward the handle M to swing the hook l1 upwardly to an open position, as seen in Figure 1 and in dotted lines in Figure 3. The point I3 of the pin [6 will thereby be exposed so that it may be inserted through one of the openings of the tongue 9. By then releasing the lever I9, the weight of the hook I! will cause said hook and lever 19 to assume the positions as seen in Figure 4 so that the bill or free end of the hook I! will be positioned beneath the tongue 9 and may be utilized for then lifting the tongue and positioning its free end on the drawbar 8 and with one of the openings I 0 thereof substantially in registry with the opening H. The hook I! is then again retracted or elevated, as previously described, so that the coupling pin 16 can be disengaged from the tongue 9 and engaged with the registering openings ill and H and will function as a drift pin to bring said openings into complete registry, if necessary. After the pin [6 has been positioned to engage the registering openings If! and ll, as illustrated in Figures 2 and 3, the lever I9 is released to permit the hook I! to return to its position of Figures 2 and 3, from its dotted line position of Figure 3 and so that the hook I! will then function to prevent the coupling pin it from being disengaged from the openings Ill and H until said hook l l is again retracted to its dotted line position of Figure 3. It will thus be seen that the coupling pin 16 and hook I! each perform a dual function in cooperation each with the other and that through the use of the combination coupling pin and lifting hook a trailer vehicle 1 may be coupled with or uncoupled from a draft vehicle 6 by an operator and whie seated on the draft vehicle. The collar l5 additionally functions as a stop for limiting the downward movement of the coupling pin l5 through the openings H3 and H and for supporting the unit 5 on the tongue 9, as illustrated in Figures 2 and 3.

Various modifications and changes are contemplated and may obviously be resorted to, without departing from the spirit or scope of the invention as hereinafter defined by the appended claims.

I claim as my invention:

1. A combination coupling pin and lifting hook comprising a rod having a lower portion defining a coupling pin, a hook pivotally connected to the rod above the coupling pin for swinging movement in a plane substantially parallel to the axis of the pin, said hook being gravity urged to swing toward the pin for positioning the free end of the hook in a position adjacent the coupling pin, said hook functioning as a stop means to releasably retain the coupling pin in engagement with openings of elements to be coupled thereby, and said pin functioning as a closure for the hook opening for retaining the hook in engagement with elements to be lifted thereby, said rod having a laterally projecting opposite, upper end disposed remote to the hook and coupling pin and forming a handle, and manually actuated means disposed adjacent said handle and connected to the hook for swinging the hook upwardly on its pivot and away from the coupling pin.

2. A combination coupling pin and lifting hook comprising a rod having a lower portion defining a coupling pin, a hook pivotally connected to the rod above the coupling pin for swinging movement in a plane substantially parallel to the axis of the pin, said hook being gravity urged to swing toward the pin for positioning the free end of the hook in a position adjacent the coupling pin, said hook functioning as a stop means to releasably retain the coupling pin in engagement with openings of elements to be coupled thereby, and said pin functioning as a closure for the hook opening for retaining the hook in engagement with elements to be lifted thereby, said rod having a laterally projecting opposite, upper end disposed remote to the hook and coupling pin and forming a handle, a manually actuated lever element pivotally mounted on the rod adjacent said handle, and a link pivotally connected to the lever element and to said hook for swinging the hook on its pivot upwardly and away from the coupling pin when said lever element is swung toward the handle. 1

3. A combination coupling pin and lifting hook comprising a rod having a lower portion defining a coupling pin, a hook pivotally connected to the rod above the coupling pin for swinging movement in a plane substantially parallel to the axis of the p n, said hook being gravity urged to swing toward the pin for positioning the free end of the hook in a position adjacent the coupling pin, said hook functioning as a stop means to releasably retain the coupling pin in engagement with openings of elements to be coupled thereby, and said pin functioning as a closure for the hook opening for retaining the hook in engagement with elements to be lifted thereby, said rod having a laterally projecting opposite, upper end disposed remote to the hook and coupling pin and forming a handle, a manually actuated lever element pivotally mounted on the rod adjacent said handle, a link pivotally connected to the lever element and to said hook for swinging the hook on its pivot upwardly and away from the coupling pin when said lever element is swung toward the handle, and a collar fixed to said rod between the coupling pin and the pivoted end of said hook and forming a stop for limiting the downward swinging movement of the hook toward the coupling pin and additionally functioning as a stop for supporting the coupling pin applied to openings of elements to be coupled thereby.

ALBERT J. VON BANK.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Num er Name Date 7 2,072,391 Varney Mar. 2, 1937 2,224,522 Peterson Dec. 10, 1940 2,483,111 Spillman Sept. 27, 1949 

